SpaceX had a problem during a parachute test in April

SpaceX had a problem during a test of its Crew Dragon parachute
system in April, NASA confirmed on Wednesday. “The test was not
satisfactory,” said NASA’s chief of human spaceflight, Bill
Gerstenmaier, at a House subcommittee
hearing. “We did not get the results we wanted. The parachutes
did not work as designed.”

The test appears to have occurred last month at Delamar Dry Lake
in Nevada, where SpaceX was conducting one of dozens of drop tests
it intends to perform to demonstrate the safety of its Crew Dragon
spacecraft. This was a “single-out” test in which one of Dragon’s
four parachutes intentionally failed before the test. “The three
remaining chutes did not operate properly,” Gerstenmaier said.

The admission came during questions from an Alabama
Representative, Mo Brooks, who has been critical of the new space
company because its advances in rocket technology
threaten the Marshall Space Flight Center, which he
represents.